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0:54

Welcome to In Her Shoes. I'm Lindsay

0:56

Peeples and I'm Editor-in-Chief of The Cut. On

0:59

this show, I get to talk to people that we love

1:01

and admire, or some that we just find interesting.

1:04

We'll explore how they found their path and

1:07

what maybe have gotten in their way, and

1:09

how they've brought others along now that they've arrived.

1:20

Kenya Moore sits on the Mount Rushmore of

1:22

reality TV legends, but she's been

1:24

gone with Wind Fabulous since before The Real

1:26

Housewives.

1:27

The forever beauty queen has given us quality content

1:30

since she joined the franchise back in 2012, and

1:33

now she's taking on a new challenge. Kenya

1:36

is one of the participants on the new Fox show

1:38

called Special Forces, which puts celebrities

1:40

through the test of what it's like to be a military

1:42

special

1:42

forces recruit. We talked

1:44

about her career, the new season of Housewives,

1:47

her journey through motherhood, and of course, what it's

1:49

like going through all those grueling challenges

1:51

on the show.

1:53

This show is called In Her Shoes,

1:56

so we always ask every guest

1:58

about their shoes, so tell

1:59

What shoes are you wearing today

2:02

and why? Oh, what shoes

2:04

am I wearing today? Oh my goodness. So I

2:06

am wearing a sort

2:08

of like combat looking boots.

2:11

Okay. Black. Oh, they're cute,

2:13

yeah. Odie but goodie. I love

2:15

this boot because it's kind of chic, but

2:18

kind of tough, but comfortable too.

2:20

Yeah. So it's kind of like my

2:22

go-to when the weather is like,

2:25

like this in New York. It's rainy today guys.

2:27

It's rainy. I did have on a really

2:29

cute

2:31

cream looking high

2:33

heel boot. But once it started

2:35

raining, I'm like, oh no. Yeah. No,

2:37

she's not gonna do that. Yeah. No, it's

2:39

very slushy rainy today. So

2:41

on this show, we also just talk about what it

2:43

is like to figuratively walk in

2:46

people's shoes. So what is it like

2:48

to walk in your shoes right now?

2:50

Wow. That is a loaded

2:52

question. You

2:55

know, my life is just pretty crazy right

2:57

now, but I have to say crazy

3:00

good, you know, balancing being

3:02

a mom

3:03

of a four year old, my

3:05

daughter Brooklyn just turned four and

3:08

running a multimillion dollar

3:10

business that's scaling very quickly and,

3:13

you know, trying to just figure that

3:16

all out as the CEO of Kenya More

3:18

Hair Care. Yeah. Which is really

3:20

a full-time job, but

3:21

also in the middle of filming

3:24

Real Housewives of Atlanta now. Absolutely.

3:27

Figuratively walking in my shoes just

3:29

really means for me is to stay focused, you

3:32

know, always taking time for myself. Like

3:34

I am teaching my daughter that as well, self

3:37

care. I started

3:39

not doing that a lot, but this year is very

3:42

different for me already. And,

3:44

you know, just loving life a little bit

3:46

more, like just taking time for me a little

3:48

bit more, not staying in the

3:51

house doing work. I am definitely

3:53

going

3:54

out more, you

3:56

know, being a little bit more social. Wink,

3:58

wink.

3:59

Well, I guess, I mean, it's not

4:02

considered going out, but I guess you guys do, I feel

4:04

like you guys obviously have to do so many events

4:06

and things in filming. So it may

4:08

seem like you're going, but I mean,

4:10

obviously that's part of filming. So that doesn't really

4:13

count. It's part of filming. It's work, yeah. No,

4:16

when I'm with those Real Housewives ladies,

4:18

definitely it's

4:19

work when we're filming. But

4:22

some of us are really great friends as,

4:24

you know, friend groups, and

4:26

I love going out with them too. Like, aside

4:29

from filming. So it's been 30

4:32

years since you won the title of Miss USA. Has

4:34

it been? I didn't think

4:36

about that until just now. Wow, 30

4:40

years. You were only

4:42

the second black woman to do so, which

4:44

is obviously such a big deal. Oh my god, 30 years, it's

4:46

crazy. What do you think the younger

4:49

version of Kenya would think about your life now

4:51

and how different it is? Oh well. I

4:55

never saw myself being on, I

4:58

would say, like reality TV. Reality

5:01

TV didn't exist back then. I don't

5:03

even think there was a real world back then. Maybe,

5:05

maybe not. But it was just

5:08

a new concept.

5:09

So I didn't really have

5:12

any idea that I would end up here. But

5:15

certainly I had a love for being in television,

5:18

movies, and wanted to expand my career. But

5:21

honestly, I really wanted to be a child

5:23

psychologist. And there's a little part

5:25

of me that still wants to be that. So

5:28

I'm like,

5:29

you know, a backseat

5:32

psychologist in my own mind. I'm always

5:34

shrinking people. But yeah, I think

5:36

she would say, you know what, you did okay.

5:38

You did okay. More than okay. Speaking

5:41

of reality TV, obviously Housewives has

5:43

been such a big part of your life

5:46

now. What is that like? And I mean, when you're

5:48

filming the new season, how does it actually play

5:50

out in your mind? Because obviously you have

5:53

so much that is going on and

5:54

choosing what to show on television, and

5:56

what to not trying to actually have

5:59

your own life. How do you balance it?

6:02

I don't know if I do. I

6:05

think with each new season, there's a new

6:07

me. I really don't go in

6:09

prepared. This is my 11th

6:12

season, but I took, you know, yeah. 11, I

6:15

took one off

6:16

when I had my daughter.

6:18

So 11 seasons later and

6:21

it's still new to me. Like when the new

6:23

season begins, I'm like, oh my God, what am I going

6:25

to do? What am I going to talk

6:27

about? What is going to be new? What

6:29

is going to be fresh? What haven't you seen

6:31

with me? And I think, you

6:33

know, the answers come as they do. It's

6:36

what the fans want. You know, the fans want to see me

6:38

dating. So I'm like, okay, am I ready to

6:40

date? Oh, what are you dating on this new season? You'll

6:42

have to watch, you know? But

6:45

it also comes from, you know, what the fans want.

6:47

And I do listen and I'm

6:48

like, oh, they're really rooting for me. I

6:51

started off on the show, single,

6:53

really looking for love, eventually

6:55

found it, couldn't really show it. You

6:58

know, a whole year of me being married wasn't

7:00

shown until things went

7:02

sour and then that was shown.

7:04

So I really think that people want to see me in

7:06

love, people want to see me happy, and

7:09

people want to see that fairy tale ending

7:11

for me. I want that for myself too. So

7:14

it's a matter of trying to figure out how do I

7:16

get to that point? And how do I share

7:18

it in a way that makes me comfortable,

7:20

the person I'm dating

7:22

comfortable and my family comfortable.

7:24

Right. I haven't been to Atlanta

7:27

recently. Like I went right at the start of the

7:29

pandemic, but I'm very curious

7:30

about what the dating scene would

7:32

be like in Atlanta. Cause I feel like it just has to be like a fishbowl,

7:34

it has to be small. Well, I don't know

7:36

honey, I don't date in that pool. I'm

7:40

kind of like in a different pool. Well,

7:44

just cause you live there, so. I kind

7:46

of do. Yeah. I

7:48

don't, I just am not an Atlanta

7:51

dater. I just.

7:53

What does that mean? I

7:57

don't particularly date men

7:59

in the pool.

7:59

in the same place that I live, it's just weird.

8:02

If you look at my history in dating, I've

8:04

always dated people that did not

8:06

live where in the same place as I did.

8:09

So I don't really know what the dating scene is

8:12

in Atlanta. It's like, I don't wanna be a part

8:14

of it really. You know, the women

8:16

far outnumber the men. But

8:19

to me, you know, the world

8:21

in dating and

8:24

where it was 30 years

8:26

ago versus where it is now, I think

8:28

that Hose be winning.

8:31

It's just a different standard. Like,

8:36

you know, when I was born, you know, my grandmother

8:38

was very strict. She was a Jehovah's Witness, so

8:40

a devout Christian. There

8:44

were things we just could not wear, things

8:46

we could not say, things we could not

8:48

do. Now I look, you know, I was looking scrolling

8:51

through the Instagram photos of what people wore

8:53

for New Year's Eve. And it's like, literally

8:55

girls are wearing literally

8:58

girls are out with their asses out.

9:00

Like literally, you don't, you show everything.

9:02

And I just think that's so slutty. I

9:06

do, and I don't wanna judge, but that's how I was

9:08

raised. So now you're asking me

9:10

to change the way I was raised and to be more

9:12

accepting. But I

9:14

wish my daughter at 18

9:17

would go out with a thong in

9:19

her ass and a

9:21

see-through dress saying she's going

9:24

anywhere. Absolutely

9:26

not. Brooklyn won't be allowed to leave the house.

9:28

No, no, no, not like that. Honestly,

9:31

I just, I don't wanna see that day.

9:33

I mean, probably in 20 years, girls will

9:36

just be naked. They're like, just forget it.

9:38

We're not gonna even wear any clothes. No, I

9:40

think it's actually gonna revert back by that time. I

9:42

don't know, you think so. Yeah. You really think so.

9:44

Yeah, I think it's gonna take a while, but. Where else can you go? Where

9:46

else can you go? You literally

9:48

are showing your

9:51

whole behind in a thong. And...

9:55

And also, I saw a picture

9:57

from a wedding. Somebody showed up with

9:59

a...

9:59

see through dress with

10:02

their nipples, you know, their areolas and nipples

10:04

showing up, like really at a wedding?

10:07

Like I can see if you wanna be with your man. Yeah.

10:10

Or woman. But I'm just

10:12

saying like what is this about? Or

10:15

person, you know,

10:16

don't discriminate. I'm just saying I don't

10:18

know what it's about.

10:21

It's, I think a lot of stuff has changed,

10:23

but I think, I mean, even more so. You don't

10:25

even get it. I'm not that, no, I'm not. But

10:27

I do think with dating stuff,

10:30

that is 100% very

10:30

different. The

10:33

absurd. I don't get it. Terrible. I

10:35

don't get all the sharing publicly of

10:37

the men. You

10:39

know,

10:41

the men are hanging out with all

10:43

these different women, and the

10:45

women are claiming that man. You

10:47

know, the one man. I was like, is this the only

10:50

person out there, sis? Like I just,

10:53

I, I'm, yeah, I'm

10:55

old. Yeah, I'm old. I don't get

10:57

it. Yeah, I mean, everybody wants something different,

11:00

but everyone dates by DMs,

11:02

you know. I don't, I just, yeah,

11:04

I don't get it.

11:06

Well, I'm very excited to see this in the new season.

11:09

I am, I am. Was there a moment

11:11

in filming over the past 11 years

11:13

that you felt like, okay, I know

11:16

the persona, I know the kind of person that I wanna

11:18

be on this show, the kind of person that I wanna be in

11:20

the future, and what was that, what were those

11:22

moments like for you?

11:24

I know what kind of person I am.

11:27

I can just say that. That's not always, and has

11:29

not always been depicted on the show.

11:32

It's

11:32

a reality show, you know, things,

11:35

dramas stirred up, storylines

11:37

are derived from

11:39

people's imaginations sometimes, not

11:42

myself, but people just making things up,

11:44

or spreading rumors that aren't true.

11:47

You know, I've been a part of all of that on both

11:49

sides. So I'm not completely

11:51

innocent in it. However,

11:54

as I grow and as I have my

11:56

daughter that's looking up to me and watching

11:58

every single thing that I do, I, I think that those

12:02

things matter. The most important thing is

12:04

that I portray an honest

12:06

depiction of who I am, which

12:09

is a very caring person who is a writer

12:11

for my friends, very loyal, very honest,

12:14

and trustworthy

12:16

and kind. And that's

12:19

just what I really wanna show, and fun. Yes,

12:23

I do judge, I'm trying

12:26

not to do so much of that. I'm

12:29

working on that, that's a work in progress. We're

12:32

all a work in progress. That's a lot of years

12:34

of undoing in my head, so

12:36

please be patient with that. I

12:39

see just so much pure beauty

12:42

in my child, and I know

12:44

she emulates me, but I really wanna

12:46

emulate her. Yeah, no, that's beautiful. Do

12:49

you feel like because you started

12:51

out doing pageants and acting and modeling,

12:53

did that prepare you for just

12:56

the pressure and just being under the microscope

12:57

so much in filming?

13:00

In a way, I think, but it was different.

13:02

We didn't have social media. When stars

13:05

were really stars, they earned that

13:07

spot. I came from a time where

13:09

you earned that position. You

13:12

didn't just have to go and go

13:14

on some ratchet show and show your ass

13:16

and become famous for just doing nothing. Like

13:19

girls on Instagram saying they dated Drake,

13:22

and they, you know, and Drake kicked

13:24

up and slapped the phone out their head, but

13:26

anyone can try to be famous for any

13:29

reason, and there are a lot of sick people out here

13:31

that just make up stuff just so they

13:33

can be seen, and it's

13:35

scary. So I come from

13:37

an era where

13:38

stars were really stars, and

13:40

a lot of people didn't do a lot of interviews

13:43

because they wanted to keep that veil

13:45

of mystery, but that isn't what

13:48

it is now. It's like

13:50

the public really has this demand

13:52

to know

13:52

everything about your life. Okay,

13:55

so house-wise question, is there

13:57

an episode or anything that you feel like

13:59

always comes...

13:59

that is memorable to you or that you just

14:02

find funny?

14:03

I have to say I don't like to watch

14:05

myself on the show. Really? But

14:08

the one time, like we'll get screeners and

14:10

sometimes when I know something like kinda controversial

14:13

is coming up, I'll wanna watch

14:15

the screener. I remember

14:18

being with my bestie Brandon and

14:20

we watched the episode where

14:22

I made mockery of Phaedra and

14:25

I had on the hat and

14:27

the thongs and the butt pads when

14:30

I tell you myself and

14:33

Brandon

14:33

both fell out

14:35

on the floor laughing because

14:37

it was like the way I was mocking her, like

14:40

the way she was like laughing

14:42

and I just looked crazy. But

14:45

it was so funny. I

14:49

just made tears come to

14:50

my eyes because it was so silly. I

14:53

know everybody isn't the best of friends on a show. You

14:56

guys are working. How do you

14:58

get to the point or figure out or determine

15:01

is this person my friend?

15:03

Are they just doing this for filming?

15:06

How have you covered your hair around that? I'm

15:08

such a great judge of characters. I came

15:10

into the show very naive. I thought certain

15:12

people were my friends and then

15:15

I watched how they manipulated

15:18

situations, words, actions.

15:21

They were seasoned girls and

15:23

some of them that

15:24

are no longer on the show were very

15:27

diabolical

15:28

in

15:30

the way that they would try to manipulate

15:33

the perception of

15:36

themselves to the public and

15:39

this one person told me who's

15:41

no longer on the show, it's never

15:43

about reality, it's about perception.

15:46

And I was like wow.

15:48

And that's why people

15:51

will lie, like you're Donald

15:53

Trump's. They will stand firm

15:55

and a lie and say it 100 times because

15:57

at some point you begin to just believe

15:59

the lie.

15:59

Never mind, you have

16:02

all these receipts. They're listening

16:04

to you. If you say it enough, people

16:07

believe you. And

16:08

it was unfortunate. I learned that

16:10

on the show because it was really painful to

16:12

actually live through someone lying on me,

16:16

saying I

16:16

propositioned their husband, I saw

16:19

someone at a party. No evidence whatsoever.

16:22

Went on national

16:24

TV, legitimate TV, interviews,

16:26

stating something that

16:27

never happened. And

16:32

it was devastating to me because at the time we

16:34

had clauses in our contracts, it

16:38

may even still be there, that we couldn't sue each other.

16:40

So I'm sitting there

16:42

feeling helpless because it's like if someone

16:44

defames me in that way or is libelous or

16:49

something like that toward me, my

16:55

recourse is I could sue them. But because I was

16:58

on this show and I signed these contracts, I

17:00

couldn't sue someone for blatantly

17:02

telling this bold face lie on me that really damaged my

17:04

reputation. As

17:08

a woman, as a former Miss USA, as someone's

17:11

daughter,

17:12

it was devastating to

17:14

me, very devastating to me. I

17:17

felt powerless. I was like, what

17:19

can I do about this? I keep saying it. Show me a receipt.

17:22

Show me what hotel. They

17:24

wouldn't say purposely any information because

17:28

they know it was gonna lead to the truth. So

17:31

they just kept saying, oh, girls, I'm past this. It's not over.

17:34

And it just was like I was sitting there

17:36

like I can't believe I'm a part of this.

17:41

Do you feel like you have a different perspective

17:44

or just handle that differently when it happens now because you're

17:46

a mother and you have Brooklyn in your life?

17:50

You know, it depends on what day you catch me. Because

17:52

honey, hailstorm, shade

17:55

assassin, I will

17:57

set this up.

17:59

place on fire you try to lie on me. I

18:02

will set it on fire and

18:04

I will be standing there watching it

18:06

burn the hell up.

18:27

It has been enjoyable though to see your evolution

18:29

as a mother. How has that changed

18:31

just your disposition? I feel like I noticed that

18:34

you were very like

18:34

already not for the BS but really not

18:36

for the BS because you're just like I'm... Yeah

18:39

well this thing is trying you know falling

18:42

for people trying to trigger you. Falling

18:45

for people that will do anything for

18:47

money, hence doing anything

18:49

for the show to think that

18:51

that's what makes them relevant is to tell

18:53

lies on you or try to provoke you. That's why

18:55

they can't

18:56

find a housewife that they can keep because

19:00

people that come on our show they've

19:02

watched us too long now and

19:05

when people come on our show in Newhousewives

19:08

they come in thinking they have

19:10

to be performative and that's what it ends

19:12

up being. It's not genuine. When

19:14

I came on the show I had no clue what I was doing. I was a

19:17

mess but I was a genuine mess.

19:19

I got sucked into situations. I reacted.

19:22

It was all organic.

19:25

The Newhousewives, these new girls

19:27

that keep coming on, they

19:29

are performing. They are making up

19:31

stories. They're doing things just to stay

19:34

relevant and to me that

19:36

is the demise of

19:39

you know what could be just truly

19:41

an amazing love story because the

19:43

fans love us. We are the premier

19:45

housewives. This one girl said something

19:48

to me, this new girl that

19:50

has been hanging around us for this season,

19:53

that Candace said on one of the episodes

19:55

of Potomac and I didn't even realize it until

19:57

someone said it to me and I'm like oh yeah.

21:59

can also contribute

22:02

to

22:03

your pain.

22:06

In terms of how I'm dealing with

22:09

it with my daughter, I'm just gonna be the mother

22:11

to her that I never had. It's just really

22:13

that simple. All the love that I have for her

22:16

is the love that I didn't get, and

22:18

I'm giving it to her, and

22:21

it's just awesome to see her

22:23

thriving. You know? I'm happy for you.

22:26

I am, I am.

22:27

You also have a birthday coming up at the end of this month. Oh my

22:29

God, I do! Hi, Jess! January 24th. We

22:32

talk a lot about just, you know, the

22:34

transitions that you go through as a woman

22:36

on the cut. How do you feel

22:38

about getting older? Like, how has your position

22:40

on that evolved? You

22:42

know, when I, you know, hit

22:45

that big

22:45

number, I

22:48

was like, ugh, I really dreaded

22:50

it because I was like,

22:51

I'm not gonna get the work anymore. In

22:54

Hollywood, you know, I felt that they were ages.

22:56

I felt like that's the number that everyone

22:58

will be like, oh, you can't sell beauty, you can't

23:01

sell this, you can't be an action

23:03

star, you can't

23:05

do all of these things, and

23:07

I've

23:07

never been busier. Like,

23:09

since I started the show to now, I've never

23:12

been busier. My phone does not

23:14

stop ringing. I think I represent, especially

23:16

being a single mom now, I think I

23:18

just represent a

23:20

wide range of

23:22

women across class,

23:25

race, I'm single, I'm

23:27

a single mom. There are so many

23:29

things that I represent, and I'm a

23:32

survivor of domestic abuse.

23:34

Like, I have a lot of story

23:36

to tell and things that I've lived through,

23:39

and I think people can

23:41

like just connect to that.

23:43

You know what I mean? Like, they can identify with that. I

23:46

don't know what it is, but it's a magic about

23:48

being

23:49

this confident and really just not

23:51

caring. It's a change, it

23:53

really is a change. Yeah, it's interesting, because

23:55

I feel like everybody always says it gets

23:58

better, but you don't realize it until.

23:59

you get to a certain point? Well, your knees don't get better.

24:02

No, honey, your knees don't get

24:05

better. But

24:08

everything else gets better. Clarity,

24:11

what you want, what you'll stand

24:13

for. Even in relationships, if

24:15

people don't serve you, meaning if

24:17

they're not giving you what you need,

24:19

then you don't have to hang on to it. Yeah, yeah. It'll

24:22

come around, and if it doesn't, you'll be fine with that too.

24:24

Yeah,

24:25

no, that's true. You communicate in a different

24:27

way. I said I keep promising that

24:30

I want to do some communication

24:33

courses

24:34

for the public.

24:36

Just online, Instagram, Facebook, lives,

24:38

whatever. Because I think we

24:40

have really lost the art of communication,

24:43

especially in work and

24:46

in relationships,

24:48

family. And I think that it's the

24:50

core,

24:51

it's essentially the core of what you need to

24:54

be successful

24:55

in any scenario. And

24:58

we don't have it. We

25:00

just don't have it. I watch my employees,

25:02

I watch my family. Things

25:06

are so much better when people just effectively

25:08

communicate. No, that's true. But I just

25:10

want to live a purposeful life. I want to stay

25:12

driven. I want to be

25:15

intentional with everything that I do. I

25:17

want to maintain my purpose. Yeah.

25:19

Speaking of busy, we're going to play

25:21

a clip from the show Special Forces.

25:23

I watched it before. Da da da da da

25:25

da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da. I

25:28

can't believe you did this. I can't believe I did

25:30

it. Oh my god, that's it more yet. Keep

25:33

going, keep going, nice and slow. Keep

25:36

going. My biggest

25:38

fear is heights, extreme heights.

25:41

Don't f*** this up. Do not

25:43

get this wrong. Stand

25:46

by. Take the string

25:48

out. Tighter. Hands

25:52

on your head. Can you see how

25:54

small she is? Yes. Go.

25:57

That's my head and leg go. That's my leg go. Now. I

26:00

fall.

26:04

Oh goodness.

26:07

What made you want to do this show? Number

26:10

one, I wanted to face my

26:11

fears. I was so afraid

26:13

of heights. I remember skiing

26:16

and I got dropped off

26:17

at a double

26:19

black diamond, which is the top

26:21

of the mountain. And when I could see

26:24

over, it just looked like it was nothing

26:26

there. I was just gonna fall off the end of the earth

26:28

and I stayed there for 35 minutes

26:30

talking myself into just jumping

26:33

so that I can get off the mountain. I was skiing.

26:37

So even in flying

26:39

in airplanes, I'm okay when it's

26:42

moving, but if

26:44

I'm standing still and I look over, I can't

26:47

move.

26:49

So I wanted to face those fears, but

26:52

it's a little bit of vanity involved

26:54

too,

26:55

because I wanted my daughter to see

26:57

that I not only talk the talk, but I walk

26:59

the walk. And I wanted her

27:02

to know that if mommy can do it, you can too.

27:04

And I always tell her, you are afraid of nothing. This

27:07

is something I tell her every day, what are you afraid of?

27:09

And she has to say nothing. And

27:11

I wanted to show her, mommy was

27:14

afraid of heights, but now look, mommy

27:16

overcame her fears and look what mommy

27:18

did.

27:19

I told her the first day when I jumped

27:21

out of the helicopter into the ocean

27:24

backwards. And

27:26

she was like, mommy, I don't want you to do that again.

27:29

I'm like, why? Did you do any preparation for

27:31

this?

27:32

There was none. And I joined last, like I

27:34

was probably the last one to join. So

27:37

before they would tell you to like, put

27:39

on all these clothes, we

27:41

had to wear full military

27:44

gear at all times. I had to literally,

27:48

every move I made, wear a

27:51

backpack that weighed as much

27:53

as my daughter, 35 pounds.

27:55

Not only did I have to carry that at all

27:57

times, we were in a manjorded in the middle

27:59

of the ocean.

27:59

in the desert. That's why Brooklyn

28:02

was like, what are you doing? 125 to 130 degrees

28:04

at night.

28:07

No

28:11

amenities, no hotel. We never got to

28:13

go to the hotel. We never got to take a proper

28:15

shower. We never had running

28:18

plumbing. We had a crap

28:20

in a bucket shared

28:22

by 14, 16 people. People

28:26

are gonna think it's fake.

28:28

Because you're looking at it like, this is

28:31

impossible. You didn't really do this. Yes, I really

28:33

did do it.

28:34

And I had to block out the noise,

28:37

the inner monologue, all of those

28:39

things telling me that I couldn't. It was cathartic

28:42

because first of all, I had to run up the damn mountain,

28:44

as you saw. I had to run up the effing

28:46

mountain with 35 pounds on my back with

28:48

a bad knee with full military

28:50

gear on and boots in the sand,

28:53

running up the mountain. They didn't, they never,

28:55

God dang it. They never

28:57

let us walk anywhere. I was so

28:59

mad. I was like, I am the worst. You will

29:01

see me in this show. I'm always at the back

29:03

of the line. I mean, you're there. It doesn't

29:05

matter, you're there. You will just see me,

29:08

the pain on my face, just

29:10

from running

29:11

in those damn boots, in the sand, 35 pounds

29:14

on this two bad knees. So

29:17

I was like, oh God, you

29:19

know, son, going through all the

29:22

hormonal changes, the fact that

29:24

I was like sweating one minute,

29:26

you know, cold, and I just

29:29

gave up. I was like, I just took the bottles, poured

29:32

it all over my head, you know, just

29:34

my body just to keep cool. It

29:37

was an amazing experience, one

29:39

that I

29:39

would not change for the world. This

29:42

is the stuff that,

29:43

you know, the cloth of life is made from.

29:46

And I can look back and say, mommy did that.

29:49

And I did well. And

29:51

I can't say much. I see it, yeah, yeah.

29:53

So also I got some street cred to bring

29:55

back to the Real Housewives. Oh

29:58

really, you think I just talk? You think I'm just a sh-

29:59

shade assassin, well let me show you what else

30:02

I can do. Right, so

30:04

now you think I'm a punk, I'm gonna show you how much of

30:06

a punk I am. Who's

30:09

called you?

30:10

Well people try to say, you

30:12

know, you know in the hood, they

30:14

try to walk up on you, try you, they try

30:16

you girl. They try you, I feel tried every

30:18

day. Oh yeah. Every day. But

30:21

I'm a new me, so I'm like, you tried it

30:23

girl. Watch

30:25

this show and let me show you what I can really do. But

30:28

I do have a little nugget to drop.

30:31

There

30:31

was an exercise that we had to do where we had

30:33

to, like, we didn't know what we were going to do,

30:35

but

30:35

we had to fight someone. Ooh. Out

30:38

of the blue. Like fist fight? Like fight fight.

30:41

Ooh. No, I just had to, I

30:43

got excited, so I had to make sure. Yes,

30:46

so they were like telling us, you know, it

30:49

was constant craziness that they

30:51

would fill your heads with, you became crazy

30:53

after a while. Because you never

30:55

knew, you had to sleep with your eyes open, you just never

30:57

knew what the hell was going to happen to you. We were starved,

31:00

we were set on fire, we were drowned, we

31:02

were tortured. Wow, okay.

31:05

Yes, we were. Because

31:07

that's what they do in the military. When you are elite

31:09

forces around the world, you go

31:12

through years of this type of training. We went

31:14

through 10 days and people couldn't

31:15

last. I just

31:17

remember them

31:19

telling us, you're going to go around this corner, it's

31:22

going to be, you know, if you find a

31:24

threat, you have to take care of the threat. No

31:26

matter what you need to do, you have to take care of the

31:28

threat. I'm like, okay, I'm thinking it's a bomb,

31:31

you don't know what it is. So we

31:33

run down this

31:36

mountain and turn a corner and then

31:38

this big ass man

31:41

standing there, like, and

31:43

then you have your directing staff, take

31:45

care of him, take care of him! I'm like,

31:46

okay, let's go! That's

31:49

random on a, bam! I was

31:51

just doing all kind of moves. I can't wait

31:53

to see this. Listen, if I

31:55

don't get an action hero role from

31:58

this, I'm just quitting. Okay, Marvel.

31:59

No, I said Marvel, hello. The

32:02

first middle-aged black,

32:04

you know, superhero. Here I am.

32:07

Call me. You know my number. You

32:09

know where to find me.

32:10

I want to see this so bad. I'm very excited. I

32:13

won the challenge. I'll say that. I'm going to give you that

32:15

nugget. I won, OK? Dwight

32:17

Howard,

32:18

I got you. OK, everybody?

32:20

I kick some ass, all right? Just know

32:22

that. I love that. I love it.

32:25

Was there anything on the show,

32:28

obviously, without giving up too much, but

32:30

that you were like, no, I can't. I can't do this.

32:33

Oh, everything. Everything. No,

32:39

I mean, honestly, I think I'm very

32:42

strong-willed, and I think that

32:44

I can be really focused when I want to be. It's

32:48

mind over matter, and that's the discipline

32:50

of everything that I know. Even when

32:52

he missed USA, I realized I wasn't the

32:54

prettiest. I wasn't the most accomplished,

32:55

but I was the

32:57

strongest in my mind. You know what I mean?

33:00

So I think that's what made me

33:03

prevail or win or stand

33:05

apart from the rest of the contestants. It

33:08

was no different here. I think if you focus

33:11

and you're strong-minded,

33:13

I think

33:15

that's how we got through it. Yeah. Yeah.

33:18

I can't believe you took on a big man. Oh,

33:20

he's very excited to see this. Oh, wait. Just

33:23

wait. And I remember

33:27

the directing staff was like, I didn't expect

33:29

that from you.

33:30

I was like, you didn't? And

33:32

he was like, no, I didn't. I said, why not?

33:35

I don't know. I didn't expect

33:37

it from you.

33:38

And I was like, well,

33:40

now you know. They must

33:43

stop him watch Housewives enough. You know. But

33:45

yeah.

33:45

You're not one to back

33:47

down, so. No, but I'm never that

33:49

girl, too. Because

33:51

I'm from the pageant world, I

33:54

don't ever want to be seen physically

33:56

fighting anyone. Yeah, yeah. I just

33:59

feel like. That is the work. You

34:01

can't undo that. You know what I mean? You

34:03

cannot undo that. I can apologize

34:05

for words. I just never

34:07

want

34:08

my child to look back and see.

34:11

Yeah, to get that far. You know, doing

34:14

all this scrapping with someone on TV. I just think

34:16

that is so disgusting. But

34:19

anyway.

34:20

So what else are you gonna take on now after

34:23

Special Forces? I know you're filming Housewives. What

34:25

else?

34:26

I'm gonna take on The Rock

34:29

in our new movie

34:31

from Marvel Studios. Ha

34:33

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

34:35

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

34:36

ha My character's name is gonna be

34:39

called Chocolate Thunder. I love

34:41

that. That's great. Ha ha ha ha

34:43

ha. And I'm gonna be kicking some ass, including

34:46

The Rocks.

34:47

I love that. Yeah. Just

34:50

watch the show. Definitely

34:52

it is the world's toughest test.

34:55

I'm very excited to see it. Yes, it is the world's toughest

34:57

test. Yeah. Well, thank you

34:59

so much for coming on the show today. We

35:01

really appreciate it. Yes, I appreciate

35:04

being

35:04

on the show's flood.

35:08

In Her Shoes is hosted by me, Lindsay Peoples. Our

35:11

producer and editor for this episode is

35:13

Taka Zen. Our engineer is

35:15

Brandon McFarland and our executive producer

35:17

is Hannah Rosen. The Cut is made possible

35:19

by the excellent team at New York Magazine. Subscribe

35:22

today at thecut.com slash subscribe.

35:25

I'm Lindsay Peoples, and thank you so much for listening.